ghost of miles

If so, I'd better hear from you so we can meet up! Goes without saying, my friend, goes without saying! I wish they'd bring all of the Thin Man series out on DVD--so far they've issued only the first, but I liked the second and third quite a lot, and even the last one, Song of the Thin Man, was mildly enjoyable, with the Charles interacting with hep-speaking bop musicians.

Thanks for the tip, Dan. You're spot-on about High Note--a big tip of the hat to them for all they've done re: Person/Edwards/Newman/Hicks in the past few years.

Note for those in the Western Michigan area: Lazaro Vega's public radio station, Blue Lake Radio, will be broadcasting the Jump for Joy program this Sunday night (April 18) at 7 p.m., on frequencies WBLV-FM 90.3 in the Muskegon area and WBLU-FM 88.9 in Grand Rapids.

I was telling my wife at breakfast today about this thread and she said, "From what you've told me, the average Organissimo poster sounds intelligent, neurotic, and somewhat aggressive... kind of like certain types of jazz." I love being married to this woman!

"The Big One? Elizabeth, honey, I'm comin' to join ya!"

THE COOL WORLD was based on a rather controversial novel by Warren Miller, btw. I've never read it--the author was white, writing from a black adolescent pov in Harlem. I once wrote a short story along similar lines, and therefore avoided Miler's book, since it seemed to provoke such a strong reaction from black writers (maybe I should've read it to get a better sense of what not to do!). Another subject, sort of related to the thread topic: anybody ever catch Franklin Ajaye? I saw him about 15 years ago on HBO, doing stand-up, and he was fantastic. I think he wrote briefly for "In Living Color" but quit because he thought it glamourized ghetto life.

I would love to find the original soundtrack of that, with Waldron playing. Another version with Dizzy was re-issued a few years back as part of a Verve twofer on one CD. Did the one with Waldron, done for the film itself, ever come out?

I did a big-band show on Nelson last year, but I don't remember including any sides with strings... either I've forgotten or I didn't search hard enough! His son lives in Indpls., I think, and occasionally shows up in Bloomington for jazz gigs. I'd love to talk with him sometime.

That sounds extremely cool & promising. I have only the MUSIC INC. BIG BAND CD from 1971; bought it recently from a board member and have spun it only once, but I liked it a lot. Listening to EVENSONG right now, which has the Paul Jordan proto-Third Stream numbers "Dusk" and "Suite No. 8." One of my faves, though, is "Take Your Shoes Off, Baby," with Hot Lips Page on vocals.

Neither have I! I have a friend who loves 'em to death, but I just--man, I can't bring myself to pick up a Dorsey CD. They don't push any buttons for me, or rather, they push the wrong ones. I've never sat down and tried to analyze why, but I really recoil from that band for some reason.

Stan Hasselgard Joe Harriott Jimmy Lyons (as a leader) Kenny "Pancho" Hagood (flame away! ) Savoy Sultans Earl Hines w/Parker (anything!) Teri Thornton Joe Albany

Definitely getting that box come May 4. Speaking of avatars, Jim, is that S.J. Perleman occupying your box now? I have an old Modern Library compendium of his stuff... he worked on Monkey Business and perhaps some other early Marx flicks too, though I can't remember which at the moment.

Ha, I heard that song on the radio the other day and was just lovin' it! War indeed... they ruled.

I'm putting together a show about Artie Shaw's two swing-with-strings bands, based around the Hep CDs IN THE BEGINNING (the 1936 band w/string quartet) and EVENSONG (the 1940-41 band). Outside of Krupa's brief experiment circa 1944-45 and Kenton's CITY OF GLASS recordings, what other big bands augmented themselves with strings? I'm also trying to think of one-off projects like THE SYMPHONIC ELLINGTON, one of my favorite Reprise works by the Duke. Highly recommend the Shaw EVENSONG to anybody interested in this kind of sound.

Carl Perkins Dodo Marmarosa Christopher Gaddy Sal Mosca (on a pianist kick, I guess) Sonny Berman John Gilmore (as a leader)

Joe Gordon Dick Twardzik John Dennis Freddie Webster Helen Carr

God, I love this city! Free Fred Hersch concert in Bloomington, 7:30 p.m. Friday evening. Met him in the parking lot outside the radio station the other day; very nice guy. He'll be performing his extended work Leaves of Grass: Herschleaves

Just starting Lydia Davis' new translation of Proust's SWANN'S WAY. Only 25 pages or so into it (I'm going to try to read about that much each night), but so far it reads beautifully, with more clarity than the earlier Montcrieff and Kilmartin translations. I also bought IN THE SHADOW OF YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER (aka WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE), the only other new translation to come out in the States so far (they all came out in the UK about a year and a half ago). The covers are beautiful, too: I read REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST (the Kilmartin translation) all the way through about 10 years ago... wondering what another decade of experience will do for the second time through. I think I'll have even more appreciation for it than I did when I was younger.

I'm definitely going to make it up for the Mehldau trio and the Coe tribute.

We're having our annual book sale, and a colleague just came downstairs and gave me a book that he plucked out: Charles Delaunay's NEW HOT DISCOGRAPY, 1948 edition, edited by Walter Schaap and George Avakian. I know it's very out-of-date at this point, but I'm still happy to get it. A bit scared, too, because I imagine acquiring discographies to be habit-forming--extremely habit-forming.

Stranger alliances have been formed playing games of Risk!

Somehow this slipped under my radar, but I'm going to take a loooooong dinner break from work to attend--it's right next door, practically. Yes, the Bunky Green, legendary saxophonist who's been quite an influence on Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, giving a free concert tonight at the IU Auditorium with David Baker on cello and Luke Gillespie on piano, among others. Hah-chah! And Fred Hersch is giving a free concert here on campus tomorrow night (met him yesterday, very nice guy); don't know if I'll be able to break away from the job for that one, though.

"Excuse me, stewardess... I speak jive."

Quick question: do you have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on capital gains (stock sales)? I always thought those were payroll taxes--but I'm thinking I better make sure.

Conn, you might want to beware of the Turrentine set--it came in for a great deal of criticism regarding audio quality either here or on the old BNBB. You might also want to go for only the sets that Malcolm Addey does. Sound is not as big an issue for me, so I can live with the McMasters, but I've seen so many unhappy postings about his work that I have to give them some credibility. I'd suggest trying one of the big black boxes, such as the aforementioned (and soon to be vanished) Tristano/Konitz/Marsh box. Well-annotated, good sound, and great music to be found there.